DC23 mecharts

Custom 8 inch QEE in progress

2013-05-01T20:03:00.001+08:00

I have here another quick project for a friend. This is an expensive glow in the dark 8 inch Qee that I have to modify to look like the caricature version of the owner.

I trimmed off the bunny ears and trimmed it to fit to look like normal human ears. I just have to sculpt the hair using putty and Green Stuff and paint the whole thing. This should be quick specially if I use spray cans for the base colors.

Just wanted to share but there is nothing much to see in this post. Thanks for dropping by! Til' next post! :)

V-Tech Aquafix quick review

2013-04-28T16:48:00.001+08:00

I am currently working on a custom toy and a miniature Dwarf King and I am using a new cheaper brand of putty that worked really well.

I'ved used a lot of different brands of industrial grade putty for my hobby needs, although I still use hobby grade putty for more refined projects. In my humble opinion, Tamiya putty, Green Stuff and other hobby grade putty are best as they are smoother when cured and are all very manageable.

However for bigger projects like the BUTT of my custom The O, using hobby grade putty will cost you a bomb! I suggest you use industrial grade putty to get the general shape and cover it with hobby grade putty for a better finish and for better handling and sculpting.

I highly recommend the Selley's Aqua type putty as it is so far the smoothest industrial grade putty after curing. However Selley's is twice the price of other Aqua type putty brands.

Just got my hand on this new V-TECH AQUAFIX All Purpose Putty that looks so much like Selley's, handles like it and cures almost as smooth as Selley's for HALF the price! Needless to say, Selley's and this new V-Tech Aquafix is way better than the more popular Pioneer stuffs.

Reposing the Starwars Stormtrooper fig

2013-04-16T14:09:00.001+08:00

Just finished the Ironman statue a while back and so I have to work and finish this Starwars Stormtrooper figure soon.

I sawed off the arms, pelvis and the ankles to give the toy a more dynamic pose. The new pose will sacrifice the poseability of the toy. I will give it a more sophisticated painting to make it look untoy-like looking to match the new pose.

I pinned the arms to give it a stronger bond and reinforced the super glue with epoxy. I need to get meself some epoxy putty to fill up those underams, inner legs and ankles then will sculpt details using some Green Stuff.

I also need to create a circular base that would compliment the figure. I hope to make this look like an expensive statue eventually.

Not much update as of now as I wait for the epoxy to cure. Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! :)

Everybody Needs a Hobby

2013-04-16T11:47:00.001+08:00

It's been a while since I posted a musing or sort of a rant here in my blog. I feel like ranting today though as I feel like letting out how I feel these days. Blogging has always been a nice outlet for me whenever I don't see anyone that is fit to talk to.

Readers of this blog are mostly people of my same age or people that are younger. I hope the younger dudes get something from this post.

I abruptly resurrected and took up this hobby last month as the politics at work has been very unbearable already. I am not directly involve in the politics, although I strongly felt and acted upon the situation. Funny that I ended up accused as one of the main culprit of the events for the past few months.

I cared so much for these people that I tried to protect all these months. Although I would admit that the word "caring" would be the last word you'll think of if you base your judgment on how I look ( tattoos and all ).

Again at the start of the chaos at the end of the year, I was totally not part of the shit. However I felt like getting involve to try to fix the situation as it was getting out of hand.

The ending was simple... I cared too much, I intervened too much, I protected these people too much... I ended up as the main suspect!

Sooooo many lessons learned!

Love your work, Enjoy your work, Work hard, Be nice to people and never EVER involve yourself in any politics at work.

You involved yourself as you felt it was the fair, right or just thing to do at that time. However as I learned and realized it the hard way... Corporate stuff and corporate politics is shit! It does not matter if your intentions were good, or your actions were just or you feel like protecting friends at that time.

Corporate shit is shit as it is. Corporate politics is illogical, unjust, unfair and at the end of it all... You realize that the people you protected needed no support or protection all those times. I should have protected myself in the first place.

So lesson learned, protect yourself as NO one will do that for you at work, work hard, love your work, be nice to people, care less and stay away from corporate shit.

This HOBBY also played a vital role in all this stuff. This hobby has kept me sane enough to survive the shit last month. Everybody needs a hobby... As it will help you CARE LESS about corporate shit at work.

Hope you find this read useful or entertaining at the very least.

Work Hard but be Nice to People. Care less and Protect yourself always! :)

Ironman statue repaint verDC23

2013-04-16T09:09:00.001+08:00

I just took some super crappy photos of my commission work Ironman statue repaint earlier today. My backgound is a couple of black shirts that looks really bad in the raw photos so I decided to stylize them to look decent enough. I will try to take better photos with a white background later today.

This blog badly needs fresh completed works and I am glad I finished this and the Ma.K kit to update my galleries.

Now that 2 quick projects are done and over with, I will now work on more complicated projects that will take time to finish. I have the MG Zeta Karaba, MG EX-S, MG Z'Gok ( Waylander vs DC23 vs Toymaker ) and the custom Starwars Stormtrooper.

Anyways I had fun with the repaint of this Ironman statue as I also added some battle damage effects in the process. The figure was painted with Vallejo Game Color, some Citadel paints and sealed with a Vallejo Acrylic Gloss Varnish.

Will make sure to update this with normal and better photos soon that are faithful to the look of the statue in person. Hope you enjoy these stylize photos for the meantime. Thanks for dropping by! Until next update guys! :)

EDIT: BELOW are more color accurate photos of the Ironman Statue Repaint. :)

Thanks as always for dropping by! Until Next post guys! :)

MG Zeta Karaba in progress

2013-04-14T19:20:00.001+08:00

This project was one of my ongoing commission works before I retired. I super highly apologize to my client from Indonesia for the delay of this project.

I could ship it unfinished to its current state right now or hopefully he could still wait and is still interested to see this project finished.

I plan to do more modifications to this MG Zeta Kit as it is still very bare and plain looking as of now. I did a lot of armor trimming and some hacking and sawing already, but a few more panel line scribing and a bit more plaplates should complete the look.

I plan to give this a clean finish with a weathered custom base. The contrast in the finishing of the base and the kit should give the overall look a nice contrast.

Anyways I hope you like this project as I will be posting updates once in a while. Thanks for dropping by! Until next post guys! :)

Custom Ma.K Fauz verDC23

2013-04-11T01:56:00.000+08:00

I am so glad to present to you my very first completed build / kit in more than a year! It has been so long since I last enjoyed and worked on a plastic kit and I enjoyed this quick build very much. This Ma.K Fauz kit was a gift from Kenny Lim ( Toymaker ) and company back when they visited the party of our old MAC forums ( 2011 ).

I added a few Kotobukiya option parts on some areas and re-scribed the existing panel lines. Other than the very minor modifications, I did nothing fancy with the base model kit.

This kit was entirely hand painted with all Vallejos. The base color was done using Vallejo Extra Opaque, Vallejo Game Color and Model Color for the other colors and Vallejo Inks and Washes for the washes.

The highlight of the build is the Floral ( Cherry Blossoms ) hand painting. All photos were taken with my trusty little iPhone5. :)

Ma.K tattoo decal painted

2013-04-09T14:28:00.001+08:00

Got tired of painting battle damage and paint chipping on the Ironman statue yesterday. So I thought I'd work on my Ma.K kit today for a change.

This kit is fully handpainted. Rough dry brushing gave it a nice textured finish. I also thought of putting tattoo style decal painting on this kit and so I did.

The cherry blossoms painting is done and will be sealed with gloss coat for water slide decals application later. Washes, weathering and paint chipping effects should complete this little kit soon.

I use Vallejo paints as usual for this build. Hope to finish this soon... Hope you like it so far. Thanks for dropping by! Until next post guys! :)

Green Stuff for Battle Damage FX

2013-04-08T14:26:00.001+08:00

The old school way of doing severe battle damage in Gunpla or toy repaints is melting the actual surface with soldering iron or a hot nail. This melting method produces beautiful and realistic results.

However, what if you do not want to actually melt the toy or model kit?

I highly recommend Green Stuff!

Yes you could use putty, epoxy putty, Tamiya epoxy putty or any putty or any material for that matter. I have used so many kinds and I have to say that Green Stuff is the most manageable.

Tamiya modeling putty comes the closest to Green Stuff when it comes to ease of use. Green Stuff though is less sticky and is a bit cheaper! Green stuff is not sandable though as it hardens like hard plastic rubber of some sort.

I will update this particular post once I have painted the Green Stuff battle damage effects. Hope you like this tutorial / tip post. Until next post guys! :)

Ironman before painting

2013-04-07T20:11:00.001+08:00

Figured I'd share some photos of the Ironman 12 inch figure after fixing the left knee and ankle parts. I got the figure drooping forwards and is not standing straight up but after some green stuff and super glue, the pose finally held up.

The photo of the figure in my workbench shows how bad the drooping was before the fix up. The following photos shows that it is standing pretty straight now that the green stuff specially on the knee parts has cured.

Anyways, here are some photos before the battle damage painting and weathering...

Starwars Stormtrooper in progress

2013-04-07T14:29:00.001+08:00

While I wait for the green stuff in the joints of the Ironman figure to harden and cure, I thought I'd start with the repose of the Starwars Stormtrooper 12 inch action figure.

The original toy has a silly standing pose that looks really funny in any pose. It will be a total waste of paint work if I won't repose this dang toy. I thought the proportions were off but after the repose it looks sort of just right.

Sawing the arms was a pain in the butt! The joints of this Stormtrooper are pretty solid. I actually broke a Tamiya saw in the process and had to use my old Trumpeter saw instead.

I also cut and heated up the joints of the legs and the ankle areas. It was a fairly quick work and the repose looks waaaaayyyyy better than the original silly pose. I need to fill in and sculpt the areas with huge gaps to complete the repose.

I will also need to create a simple futuristic base for this toy. Will have to get supplies to continue work on this figure. The usual green stuff and epoxy putty should work well with the sculpting of the gaps soon.

Ironman statue in progress

2013-04-07T12:42:00.001+08:00

I thought I will go straight to painting this handsome Ironman statue, apparently I had to fix the pose a bit as it is not standing straight.

The figure is made of fairly soft white rubber. And due to the stress of the weight of the torso, the legs and ankle parts loosened up and it cannot hold a straight pose.

I had to reglue the ankle part and the left leg knee part and reinforce it with green stuff. The green stuff will harden much like the material of the figure and should help in maintaining a straight pose.

I also had to disassemble all the parts of the figure so that I could clean up those hard to reach areas in between the connecting pieces.

Once the green stuff hardens in an hour or so, I will then start to do battle damage painting on this lovely figure. As always I will be sealing all the painting with wipe and shine soon.

Stay tuned guys as I try to improve this already handsome figure. :)

Battle Damaged Ironman statue coming soon...

2013-04-06T13:58:00.001+08:00

I did not paint this Ironman in these photos... but will be picking up the statue from a good old friend later today and sort of repaint it.

I am pretty excited to work on this project as I am very confident I could finish it in one weekend. I will just add paint chipping and battle damage effects to the statue and maybe some burn marks using Vallejo pigments. This project should add flare to my old stagnant commission gallery soon!

As always I will use Citadel and Vallejo paints for the damage effects and Vallejo washes and pigments to add depth to those armor plates. I am not sure if I need to tone down the shine of the surfaces / areas with damage effects, but I am pretty sure it should look great either way.

Anyways, just wanted to share these stunning photos of the statue in clean form before I bastardize the dang sheesh. Stay tuned guys! :)

1/24 Daihatsu Copen modeled by Rayloke

2013-04-06T13:39:00.000+08:00

I have here something fresh. This is basically Aoshima 1/24 Daihatsu Copen modeled by Raymond Loke aka Rayloke. Rayloke is a very good modeler from Malaysia who never stops in learning new things to enjoy the hobby of scale modeling.

He has just started a new blog and it seems that he is pretty serious at updating his site with his recent works. His work on this Aoshima kit is stunning and the metallics are just too nice to behold. Extra props goes to the detailing work on the interiors of the kit. The finished model simply looks like a real car!

A ton more photos of this beautiful stunning build at Rayloke's new blog site! Here is the link guys...

Aoshima 1/24 Daihatsu Copen modeled by Rayloke

Thanks for dropping by! Til' next featured guest modeler! :)

Stormtrooper conversion coming soon...

2013-04-04T21:09:00.001+08:00

A good old friend has a friend that commissioned me to convert and paint a simple 12 inch StarWars Stormtrooper figure to look like the statue above... The toy is the photo below! :)

Initially the dude just wanted me to add battle damage and blue markings to his toy... I think that just painting the toy above won't make the toy look impressive as the simple pose is not very impressive looking. So I then convinced the dude that I'd rather re-pose the toy and create a custom base to look a bit similar to the photos of the statue.

I will be getting this toy on Saturday. I will need to cut of those limbs to be able to manage to re-pose the toy. I bit of re-sculpting should be exciting and painting worn out paint markings and battle damage painting effects should be fun!

Anyways, stay tuned guys as I try to convert this simple toy to look as impressive as the statue below. :)

MechaPinoy's Richie Ramos in the house!!!

2013-04-01T23:38:00.001+08:00

Yes I used a photo of the grand daddy of Gundams, The RX-78 for this announcent ( pun intended ) :)

Former arch rival ( hihi ) turned good friend Richie Ramos has just joined as co-author of our new blog MechaCrazyCustoms today!

Richie is basically one of the grand daddys ( same as the RX-78 ) of Gundams or mecha here in the Philippines as he is one of the founding members of the very first Gundam / mecha forums in the Philippines in MECHAPINOY!

Anyways, it's an honor to have Richie in the fold! Here is the link of his intro post...

Intro @ mechacrazycustoms.blogspot.com

Ma.K, relax hand painting project

2013-03-31T12:59:00.001+08:00

Coming out of retirement, I feel I need to do a quick relax build to get me settled.

I feel like doing so many kits at the same time as I have so many unpainted kits lying around and I really missed this hobby.

However I cannot do Gunpla as I need to get an airbrush first. So I thought of working with my only Ma.K kit ( gift from Toymaker ) as I could hand paint this after minor mods and priming.

I will be starting to work on a huge master grade kit after this, which would leave me with no painted kits for a while. So I might as well finish something small before a couple of huge projects.

Anyways here are some photos of this cool little kit in progress...

MechaCrazyCustoms.blogspot.com!!!

2013-03-30T15:34:00.001+08:00

I am very proud and excited to announce that we have created a new group blog for my younger and talented kababayans!

After neglecting my own blog for almost a year, I sort of realized that a simple blog immotalizes your works in the net.

I learned all my basic knowledge in modeling through forums. I even used to run a forums before. However base on feedbacks, forums are not as lively as Facebook.

Facebook on the other hand is perfect for quick information and interaction. But your work feels so temporary as it easilly gets bump down by newer posts or updates.

Blogs or websites just feels more permanent and as organize as forums.

My blog used to get around 70k views a month before retirement. And during retirement when I failed to post anything for almost a year, my blog gets a constant 20k views.

I am very thankful to all the people who keeps on visiting my humble blog. Now my blog is at pace to reach 40k views this march. So I thought, why not create a blog that would feature younger and equally talented modelers of my country!

So voila!!! We have created a new blog that has 6 ( so far ) authors / writers / modelers that would share their works in a more permanent venue.

The blog is still at it's infancy stage but as I've said, I am very proud to present to you...

MECHA CRAZY CUSTOMS.blogspot.com

My 1/144 Gaddess so far...

2013-03-30T14:09:00.001+08:00

I think this little bugger has served its purpose and I am putting it aside for the meantime. This kit is basically my practice kit coming out of retirement and I feel I could now move on to a bigger or more expensive practice kit.

Besides, I still need to get a new airbrush so I am not in a hurry to paint and finish kits anyways.

I had so much fun working with this 1/144 Gaddess. It is a pretty straight forward build as expected and it did not offer much challenge. I had to re-learn how to scribe panel lines, drill holes, cut pla plates and trim armor parts though.

Fun project that I should finish once I get a new gun.

Now here are a few photos as I leave this kit beside my workbench for the time being. :)

TOYMAKER vs DC23 vs WAYLANDER soon!!!

2013-03-29T23:52:00.000+08:00

After a couple of beers, I suddenly felt like bragging before going to sleep ( evil laugh )!!!

I hope everyone still remembers the TOYMAKER versus DC23 back in 2011. Well it was an epic battle and an epic loss for me ( hehehe ), so basically I am coming back for more!

I am so proud to announce that come May 16, 2013... We will be starting another build off! This time with another talented and good friend in Waylander!

May 16 will be

TOYMAKER vs. DC23 vs. WAYLANDER!

We will announce the kit come May! This should be fun! So stay tuned guys! :)

Plastic TIP: always fit minus molds inside holes

2013-03-29T21:00:00.001+08:00

I don't actually fit minus molds inside holes way back as it is so easy to just glue it above the surface. Looks very amateur though and fitting minus molds inside holes looks way better.

It is actually simpler than how it looks. You need the proper tools and you are good to go!

Basically you need two sizes of drill bits. The first bit should be smaller than the mold itself. In fact the first hole is just to guide the bigger drill bit soon after.

The second drill bit is important! It should be bigger than the minus mold so that the mold will fit snugly inside. The trick is to NOT drill all the way through. A rusted old bit is perfect for this task rather than a sharp new bit.

The photos and this tip is for small kotobukiya parts or minus molds. For bigger molds the concept stays the same but is a bit different in a way.

Hope the photos below explains it better...

Plastic TIP: clean up before modifications

2013-03-29T09:52:00.001+08:00

This sounds as simple as it is guys. No matter how much you plan to modify your kit, may it be gunpla, gundam, scale model kits, resin kits and miniatures, you obviously have to clean up the parts thoroughly before doing any sort of modifications.

Clean up does not mean washing the parts ( although you have to do that too ). Clean up means you have to sand off all the nub marks and seal the seam lines ( optional depending on your modifications ).

Why do you have to clean up the nub marks before modding? Simple! Cleaning up while modifying the kit at the same time will super slow you down! If you have a nice sanded kit that is ready for priming, you will be able to focus on just modifications ( panel line scribing, pla plates, etc. ).

Imagine you are about to glue a piece of pla plate or a kotobukiya option part, when all of a sudden there is a nub or excess plastic in the way!!! Dang you all of a sudden have to clean up before gluing the intended part. That is so much hassle if you know what I mean.

Do trust me, you will enjoy the modding stage of your build if you have finished the clean up phase already.

Hope this very simple tip will help you speed up your work! Until next Plastic TIP guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

1/144 Gaddess with custom base WIP

2013-03-28T22:46:00.001+08:00

This is my first attempt in modding and actually working on a plastic kit after a year. It is both fun and frustrating as I work or revisit my old modeling skills.

I managed to sand off all the seam lines along the leg parts, forearms, and backpack. I also cleaned all the nub marks before modding.

I first practiced cutting pla plates and scribing panel lines on the base that came with the kit, then tried adding panel lines on the back pack after a while. A lot of imperfections and slip ups while scribing the panel lines, but it was fun!

Hope to show better updates tomorrow and hope to work faster as well. Thanks for dropping by! Til' next post guys!

Plastic TIP: oozed cement is best

2013-03-25T11:41:00.001+08:00

This Blogger iPhone app is great for quick posts with little photos, so I thought of doing quick " TIP " posts like this from time to time.

Unlike my long really old turorials with crappy photos, these new series of " TIP " posts will be really short tutorials of sort. Short and concise with few crappy photos.

So here it goes...

TIP #1: excess cement is best!

I would assume that if your in this site and actually reading this post, that you know removing seam lines using thin cement through capillary action right?

Basically you snap two pieces together leaving a very thin gap along each part. Then you apply thin cement and let it run through the thin gap. Let air dry for about 5 seconds, then snap both parts together.

Oozing excess cement after snapping both parts together while holding it real tight for a minute is your desired result. Why? Coz you could shave those cured excess cement after around 4 hours.

Voila! No more seam lines to fill later. Cement is always enough for seam line removal if you get the ooZed look right after application. So as I've said, excess cement is best!

Hope You like my new " TIP " post. Until next post guys... Just enjoy the hobby! :)

Gunpla Meet-Up @ SM North

2013-03-24T22:47:00.000+08:00

I went to a very exclusive Gunpla modelers meet-up yesterday ( March 23 ) and met some old friends in the hobby! Nothing beats like seeing well modified and highly creative finished model kits and in progress kits to move you back to this awesome hobby.

Alex Arevalo of Acube Art, Adrian Sicat aka Krescenhaze, Amir_Anti_Yosi, Gianshopao, Wuji aka DarkWorkz, Mark Bersola, Stephen Tuazon, Jose Sabale aka Kisapmata, and Ace ( sorry I failed to take photos of your Devil Gundam ) were in attendance in this small gathering.

Looking forward to seeing the progress of these builds in the next meet-ups and will promise to bring a few kits in progress of my own. Anyways, hope you enjoy my crappy photos... Thanks for dropping by and just enjoy the hobby! :)